The concept of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s. According to the theory, Earth has a rigid outer layer, known as the lithosphere, which is typically about 100 km (60 miles) thick and overlies a plastic (moldable, partially molten) layer called the asthenosphere. The lithosphere is broken up into seven very large continental- and ocean-sized plates, six or seven medium-sized regional plates, and several small ones. These plates move relative to each other, typically at rates of 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) per year, and interact along their boundaries, where they converge, diverge, or slip past one another. Such interactions are thought to be responsible for most of Earth’s seismic and volcanic activity, although earthquakes and volcanoes can occur in plate interiors. Plate motions cause mountains to rise where plates push together, or converge, and continents to fracture and oceans to form where plates pull apart, or diverge. The continents are embedded in the plates and drift passively with them, which over millions of years results in significant changes in Earth’s geography.

The theory of plate tectonics is based on a broad synthesis of geologic and geophysical data. It is now almost universally accepted, and its adoption represents a true scientific revolution, analogous in its consequences to quantum mechanics in physics or the discovery of the genetic code in biology. Incorporating the much older idea of continental drift, as well as the concept of seafloor spreading, the theory of plate tectonics has provided an overarching framework in which to describe the past geography of continents and oceans, the processes controlling creation and destruction of landforms, and the evolution of Earth’s crust, atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and climates. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it became apparent that plate-tectonic processes profoundly influence the composition of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, serve as a prime cause of long-term climate change, and make significant contributions to the chemical and physical environment in which life evolves.

For details on the specific effects of plate tectonics, see the articles earthquake and volcano. A detailed treatment of the various land and submarine relief features associated with plate motion is provided in the articles tectonic landform and ocean.

Principles of plate tectonics

In essence, plate-tectonic theory is elegantly simple. Earth’s surface layer, 50 to 100 km (30 to 60 miles) thick, is rigid and is composed of a set of large and small plates. Together, these plates constitute the lithosphere, from the Greek lithos, meaning “rock.” The lithosphere rests on and slides over an underlying partially molten (and thus weaker but generally denser) layer of plastic partially molten rock known as the asthenosphere, from the Greek asthenos, meaning “weak.” Plate movement is possible because the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is a zone of detachment. As the lithospheric plates move across Earth’s surface, driven by forces as yet not fully understood, they interact along their boundaries, diverging, converging, or slipping past each other. While the interiors of the plates are presumed to remain essentially undeformed, plate boundaries are the sites of many of the principal processes that shape the terrestrial surface, including earthquakes, volcanism, and orogeny (that is, formation of mountain ranges).

A cross section of Earth’s outer layers, from the crust through the lower mantle.

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The roles that convection currents and other forces play in the movement of Earth’s tectonic plates.

Knowledge of Earth’s interior is derived primarily from analysis of the seismic waves that propagate through Earth as a result of earthquakes. Depending on the material they travel through, the waves may either speed up, slow down, bend, or even stop if they cannot penetrate the material they encounter.

Three-dimensional diagram showing crustal generation and destruction according to the theory of …

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Collectively, these studies show that Earth can be internally divided into layers on the basis of either gradual or abrupt variations in chemical and physical properties. Chemically, Earth can be divided into three layers. A relatively thin crust, which typically varies from a few kilometres to 40 km (about 25 miles) in thickness, sits on top of the mantle. (In some places, Earth’s crust may be up to 70 km [40 miles] thick.) The mantle is much thicker than the crust; it contains 83 percent of Earth’s volume and continues to a depth of 2,900 km (1,800 miles). Beneath the mantle is the core, which extends to the centre of Earth, some 6,370 km (nearly 4,000 miles) below the surface. Geologists maintain that the core is made up primarily of metallic iron accompanied by smaller amounts of nickel, cobalt, and lighter elements, such as carbon and sulfur. (See alsoEarth.)

There are two types of crust, continental and oceanic, which differ in their composition and thickness. The distribution of these crustal types broadly coincides with the division into continents and ocean basins, although continental shelves, which are submerged, are underlain by continental crust. The continents have a crust that is broadly granitic in composition and, with a density of about 2.7 grams per cubic cm (0.098 pound per cubic inch), is somewhat lighter than oceanic crust, which is basaltic (i.e., richer in iron and magnesium than granite) in composition and has a density of about 2.9 to 3 grams per cubic cm (0.1 to 0.11 pound per cubic inch). Continental crust is typically 40 km (25 miles) thick, while oceanic crust is much thinner, averaging about 6 km (4 miles) in thickness. These crustal rocks both sit on top of the mantle, which is ultramafic in composition (i.e., very rich in magnesium and iron-bearing silicate minerals). The boundary between the crust (continental or oceanic) and the underlying mantle is known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity (also called Moho), which is named for its discoverer, Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić. The Moho is clearly defined by seismic studies, which detect an acceleration in seismic waves as they pass from the crust into the denser mantle. The boundary between the mantle and the core is also clearly defined by seismic studies, which suggest that the outer part of the core is a liquid.

The shifting rock in an earthquake causes vibrations called seismic waves that travel within Earth …

The effect of the different densities of lithospheric rock can be seen in the different average elevations of continental and oceanic crust. The less-dense continental crust has greater buoyancy, causing it to float much higher in the mantle. Its average elevation above sea level is 840 metres (2,750 feet), while the average depth of oceanic crust is 3,790 metres (12,400 feet). This density difference creates two principal levels of Earth’s surface.

The lithosphere itself includes all the crust as well as the upper part of the mantle (i.e., the region directly beneath the Moho), which is also rigid. However, as temperatures increase with depth, the heat causes mantle rocks to lose their rigidity. This process begins at about 100 km (60 miles) below the surface. This change occurs within the mantle and defines the base of the lithosphere and the top of the asthenosphere. This upper portion of the mantle, which is known as the lithospheric mantle, has an average density of about 3.3 grams per cubic cm (0.12 pound per cubic inch). The asthenosphere, which sits directly below the lithospheric mantle, is thought to be slightly denser at 3.4–4.4 grams per cubic cm (0.12–0.16 pound per cubic inch).

In contrast, the rocks in the asthenosphere are weaker, because they are close to their melting temperatures. As a result, seismic waves slow as they enter the asthenosphere. With increasing depth, however, the greater pressure from the weight of the rocks above causes the mantle to become gradually stronger, and seismic waves increase in velocity, a defining characteristic of the lower mantle. The lower mantle is more or less solid, but the region is also very hot, and thus the rocks can flow very slowly (a process known as creep).

During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, scientific understanding of the deep mantle was greatly enhanced by high-resolution seismological studies combined with numerical modeling and laboratory experiments that mimicked conditions near the core-mantle boundary. Collectively, these studies revealed that the deep mantle is highly heterogeneous and that the layer may play a fundamental role in driving Earth’s plates.

At a depth of about 2,900 km (1,800 miles), the lower mantle gives way to Earth’s outer core, which is made up of a liquid rich in iron and nickel. At a depth of about 5,100 km (3,200 miles), the outer core transitions to the inner core. Although it has a higher temperature than the outer core, the inner core is solid because of the tremendous pressures that exist near Earth’s centre. Earth’s inner core is divided into the outer-inner core (OIC) and the inner-inner core (IIC), which differ from one another with respect to the polarity of their iron crystals. The polarity of the iron crystals of the OIC is oriented in a north-south direction, whereas that of the IIC is oriented east-west.

The internal layers of Earth’s core, including its two inner cores.

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Plate boundaries

Lithospheric plates are much thicker than oceanic or continental crust. Their boundaries do not usually coincide with those between oceans and continents, and their behaviour is only partly influenced by whether they carry oceans, continents, or both. The Pacific Plate, for example, is entirely oceanic, whereas the North American Plate is capped by continental crust in the west (the North American continent) and by oceanic crust in the east and extends under the Atlantic Ocean as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

In a simplified example of plate motion shown in the figure, movement of plate A to the left relative to plates B and C results in several types of simultaneous interactions along the plate boundaries. At the rear, plates A and B move apart, or diverge, resulting in extension and the formation of a divergent margin. At the front, plates A and B overlap, or converge, resulting in compression and the formation of a convergent margin. Along the sides, the plates slide past one another, a process called shear. As these zones of shear link other plate boundaries to one another, they are called transform faults.

Theoretical diagram showing the effects of an advancing tectonic plate on other adjacent, but …

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Divergent margins

As plates move apart at a divergent plate boundary, the release of pressure produces partial melting of the underlying mantle. This molten material, known as magma, is basaltic in composition and is buoyant. As a result, it wells up from below and cools close to the surface to generate new crust. Because new crust is formed, divergent margins are also called constructive margins.

Continental rifting

Upwelling of magma causes the overlying lithosphere to uplift and stretch. (Whether magmatism [the formation of igneous rock from magma] initiates the rifting or whether rifting decompresses the mantle and initiates magmatism is a matter of significant debate.) If the diverging plates are capped by continental crust, fractures develop that are invaded by the ascending magma, prying the continents farther apart. Settling of the continental blocks creates a rift valley, such as the present-day East African Rift Valley. As the rift continues to widen, the continental crust becomes progressively thinner until separation of the plates is achieved and a new ocean is created. The ascending partial melt cools and crystallizes to form new crust. Because the partial melt is basaltic in composition, the new crust is oceanic, and an ocean ridge develops along the site of the former continental rift. Consequently, diverging plate boundaries, even if they originate within continents, eventually come to lie in ocean basins of their own making.

The Thingvellir fracture zone at Thingvellir National Park in southwestern Iceland is an example of …

Seafloor spreading

As upwelling of magma continues, the plates continue to diverge, a process known as seafloor spreading. Samples collected from the ocean floor show that the age of oceanic crust increases with distance from the spreading centre—important evidence in favour of this process. These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined, and they show that rates vary from about 0.1 cm (0.04 inch) per year to 17 cm (6.7 inches) per year. Seafloor-spreading rates are much more rapid in the Pacific Ocean than in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. At spreading rates of about 15 cm (6 inches) per year, the entire crust beneath the Pacific Ocean (about 15,000 km [9,300 miles] wide) could be produced in 100 million years.

Map showing the age of Earth’s oceanic crust and the pattern of seafloor spreading at the global …

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Divergence and creation of oceanic crust are accompanied by much volcanic activity and by many shallow earthquakes as the crust repeatedly rifts, heals, and rifts again. Brittle earthquake-prone rocks occur only in the shallow crust. Deep earthquakes, in contrast, occur less frequently, due to the high heat flow in the mantle rock. These regions of oceanic crust are swollen with heat and so are elevated by 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 miles) above the surrounding seafloor. The elevated topography results in a feedback scenario in which the resulting gravitational force pushes the crust apart, allowing new magma to well up from below, which in turn sustains the elevated topography. Its summits are typically 1 to 5 km (0.6 to 3.1 miles) below the ocean surface. On a global scale, these ridges form an interconnected system of undersea “mountains” that are about 65,000 km (40,000 miles) in length and are called oceanic ridges.

Convergent margins

Given that Earth is constant in volume, the continuous formation of Earth’s new crust produces an excess that must be balanced by destruction of crust elsewhere. This is accomplished at convergent plate boundaries, also known as destructive plate boundaries, where one plate descends at an angle—that is, is subducted—beneath the other.

Three-dimensional diagram showing crustal generation and destruction according to the theory of …

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Because oceanic crust cools as it ages, it eventually becomes denser than the underlying asthenosphere, and so it has a tendency to subduct, or dive under, adjacent continental plates or younger sections of oceanic crust. The life span of the oceanic crust is prolonged by its rigidity, but eventually this resistance is overcome. Experiments show that the subducted oceanic lithosphere is denser than the surrounding mantle to a depth of at least 600 km (about 400 miles).

The mechanisms responsible for initiating subduction zones are controversial. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, evidence emerged supporting the notion that subduction zones preferentially initiate along preexisting fractures (such as transform faults) in the oceanic crust. Irrespective of the exact mechanism, the geologic record indicates that the resistance to subduction is overcome eventually.

Where two oceanic plates meet, the older, denser plate is preferentially subducted beneath the younger, warmer one. Where one of the plate margins is oceanic and the other is continental, the greater buoyancy of continental crust prevents it from sinking, and the oceanic plate is preferentially subducted. Continents are preferentially preserved in this manner relative to oceanic crust, which is continuously recycled into the mantle. This explains why ocean floor rocks are generally less than 200 million years old whereas the oldest continental rocks are more than 4 billion years old. Before the middle of the 20th century, most geoscientists maintained that continental crust was too buoyant to be subducted. However, it later became clear that slivers of continental crust adjacent to the deep-sea trench, as well as sediments deposited in the trench, may be dragged down the subduction zone. The recycling of this material is detected in the chemistry of volcanoes that erupt above the subduction zone.

Two plates carrying continental crust collide when the oceanic lithosphere between them has been eliminated. Eventually, subduction ceases and towering mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas, are created. See belowMountains by continental collision.

Because the plates form an integrated system, it is not necessary that new crust formed at any given divergent boundary be completely compensated at the nearest subduction zone, as long as the total amount of crust generated equals that destroyed.

Subduction zones

The subduction process involves the descent into the mantle of a slab of cold hydrated oceanic lithosphere about 100 km (60 miles) thick that carries a relatively thin cap of oceanic sediments. The path of descent is defined by numerous earthquakes along a plane that is typically inclined between 30° and 60° into the mantle and is called the Wadati-Benioff zone, for Japanese seismologist Kiyoo Wadati and American seismologist Hugo Benioff, who pioneered its study. Between 10 and 20 percent of the subduction zones that dominate the circum-Pacific ocean basin are subhorizontal (that is, they subduct at angles between 0° and 20°). The factors that govern the dip of the subduction zone are not fully understood, but they probably include the age and thickness of the subducting oceanic lithosphere and the rate of plate convergence.

Most, but not all, earthquakes in this planar dipping zone result from compression, and the seismic activity extends 300 to 700 km (200 to 400 miles) below the surface, implying that the subducted crust retains some rigidity to this depth. At greater depths the subducted plate is partially recycled into the mantle.

The site of subduction is marked by a deep trench, between 5 and 11 km (3 and 7 miles) deep, that is produced by frictionaldrag between the plates as the descending plate bends before it subducts. The overriding plate scrapes sediments and elevated portions of ocean floor off the upper crust of the lower plate, creating a zone of highly deformed rocks within the trench that becomes attached, or accreted, to the overriding plate. This chaotic mixture is known as an accretionary wedge.

The rocks in the subduction zone experience high pressures but relatively low temperatures, an effect of the descent of the cold oceanic slab. Under these conditions the rocks recrystallize, or metamorphose, to form a suite of rocks known as blueschists, named for the diagnostic blue mineral called glaucophane, which is stable only at the high pressures and low temperatures found in subduction zones. (See alsometamorphic rock.) At deeper levels in the subduction zone (that is, greater than 30–35 km [about 19–22 miles]), eclogites, which consist of high-pressure minerals such as red garnet (pyrope) and omphacite (pyroxene), form. The formation of eclogite from blueschist is accompanied by a significant increase in density and has been recognized as an important additional factor that facilitates the subduction process.

Island arcs

When the downward-moving slab reaches a depth of about 100 km (60 miles), it gets sufficiently warm to drive off its most volatile components, thereby stimulating partial melting of mantle in the plate above the subduction zone (known as the mantle wedge). Melting in the mantle wedge produces magma, which is predominantly basaltic in composition. This magma rises to the surface and gives birth to a line of volcanoes in the overriding plate, known as a volcanic arc, typically a few hundred kilometres behind the oceanic trench. The distance between the trench and the arc, known as the arc-trench gap, depends on the angle of subduction. Steeper subduction zones have relatively narrow arc-trench gaps. A basin may form within this region, known as a fore-arc basin, and may be filled with sediments derived from the volcanic arc or with remains of oceanic crust.

If both plates are oceanic, as in the western Pacific Ocean, the volcanoes form a curved line of islands, known as an island arc, that is parallel to the trench, as in the case of the Mariana Islands and the adjacent Mariana Trench. If one plate is continental, the volcanoes form inland, as they do in the Andes of western South America. Though the process of magma generation is similar, the ascending magma may change its composition as it rises through the thick lid of continental crust, or it may provide sufficient heat to melt the crust. In either case, the composition of the volcanic mountains formed tends to be more silicon-rich and iron- and magnesium-poor relative to the volcanic rocks produced by ocean-ocean convergence.

Back-arc basins

Where both converging plates are oceanic, the margin of the older oceanic crust will be subducted because older oceanic crust is colder and therefore more dense. As the dense slab collapses into the asthenosphere, however, it also may “roll back” oceanward and cause extension in the overlying plate. This results in a process known as back-arc spreading, in which a basin opens up behind the island arc. The crust behind the arc becomes progressively thinner, and the decompression of the underlying mantle causes the crust to melt, initiating seafloor-spreading processes, such as melting and the production of basalt; these processes are similar to those that occur at ocean ridges. The geochemistry of the basalts produced at back-arc basins superficially resembles that of basalts produced at ocean ridges, but subtle trace element analyses can detect the influence of a nearby subducted slab.

The trench “roll back” process of back-arc basin formation.

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This style of subduction predominates in the western Pacific Ocean, in which a number of back-arc basins separate several island arcs from Asia. Examples include the Mariana Islands, the Kuril Islands, and the main islands of Japan. However, if the rate of convergence increases or if anomalously thick oceanic crust (possibly caused by rising mantle plume activity) is conveyed into the subduction zone, the slab may flatten. Such flattening causes the back-arc basin to close, resulting in deformation, metamorphism, and even melting of the strata deposited in the basin.

The slab “sea anchor” process of back-arc basin formation.

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Mountain building

If the rate of subduction in an ocean basin exceeds the rate at which the crust is formed at oceanic ridges, a convergent margin forms as the ocean initially contracts. This process can lead to collision between the approaching continents, which eventually terminates subduction. Mountain building can occur in a number of ways at a convergent margin: mountains may rise as a consequence of the subduction process itself, by the accretion of small crustal fragments (which, along with linear island chains and oceanic ridges, are known as terranes), or by the collision of two large continents.

Many mountain belts were developed by a combination of these processes. For example, the Cordilleran mountain belt of North America—which includes the Rocky Mountains as well as the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges near the Pacific coast—developed by a combination of subduction and terrane accretion. As continental collisions are usually preceded by a long history of subduction and terrane accretion, many mountain belts record all three processes. Over the past 70 million years the subduction of the Neo-Tethys Sea, a wedge-shaped body of water that was located between Gondwana and Laurasia, led to the accretion of terranes along the margins of Laurasia, followed by continental collisions beginning about 30 million years ago between Africa and Europe and between India and Asia. These collisions culminated in the formation of the Alps and the Himalayas.

Mountains by subduction

Mountain building by subduction is classically demonstrated in the Andes Mountains of South America. Subduction results in voluminous magmatism in the mantle and crust overlying the subduction zone, and, therefore, the rocks in this region are warm and weak. Although subduction is a long-term process, the uplift that results in mountains tends to occur in discrete episodes and may reflect intervals of stronger plate convergence that squeezes the thermally weakened crust upward. For example, rapid uplift of the Andes approximately 25 million years ago is evidenced by a reversal in the flow of the Amazon River from its ancestral path toward the Pacific Ocean to its modern path, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition, models have indicated that the episodic opening and closing of back-arc basins have been the major factors in mountain-building processes, which have influenced the plate-tectonic evolution of the western Pacific for at least the past 500 million years.

Mountains by terrane accretion

As the ocean contracts by subduction, elevated regions within the ocean basin—terranes—are transported toward the subduction zone, where they are scraped off the descending plate and added—accreted—to the continental margin. Since the late Devonian and early Carboniferous periods, some 360 million years ago, subduction beneath the western margin of North America has resulted in several collisions with terranes. The piecemeal addition of these accreted terranes has added an average of 600 km (400 miles) in width along the western margin of the North American continent, and the collisions have resulted in important pulses of mountain building.

The broad, gentle pitch of the continental shelf gives way to the relatively steep continental …

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During these accretionary events, small sections of the oceanic crust may break away from the subducting slab as it descends. Instead of being subducted, these slices are thrust over the overriding plate and are said to be obducted. Where this occurs, rare slices of ocean crust, known as ophiolites, are preserved on land. They provide a valuable natural laboratory for studying the composition and character of the oceanic crust and the mechanisms of their emplacement and preservation on land. A classic example is the Coast Range ophiolite of California, which is one of the most extensive ophiolite terranes in North America. These ophiolite deposits run from the Klamath Mountains in northern California southward to the Diablo Range in central California. This oceanic crust likely formed during the middle of the Jurassic Period, roughly 170 million years ago, in an extensional regime within either a back-arc or a forearc basin. In the late Mesozoic, it was accreted to the western North American continental margin.

Because preservation of oceanic crust is rare, the recognition of ophiolite complexes is very important in tectonic analyses. Until the mid-1980s, ophiolites were thought to represent vestiges of the main oceanic tract, but geochemical analyses have clearly indicated that most ophiolites form near volcanic arcs, such as in back-arc basins characterized by subduction roll-back (the collapse of the subducting plate that causes the extension of the overlying plate). The recognition of ophiolite complexes is very important in tectonic analysis, because they provide insights into the generation of magmatism in oceanic domains, as well as their complex relationships with subduction processes. (See aboveback-arc basins.)

Mountains by continental collision

Continental collision involves the forced convergence of two buoyant plate margins that results in neither continent being subducted to any appreciable extent. A complex sequence of events ensues that compels one continent to override the other. These processes result in crustal thickening and intense deformation that forces the crust skyward to form huge mountains with crustal roots that extend as deep as 80 km (about 50 miles) relative to Earth’s surface, in accordance with the principles of isostasy.

The subducted slab still has a tendency to sink and may become detached and founder (submerge) into the mantle. The crustal root undergoes metamorphic reactions that result in a significant increase in density and may cause the root to also founder into the mantle. Both processes result in a significant injection of heat from the compensatory upwelling of asthenosphere, which is an important contribution to the rise of the mountains.

Continental collisions produce lofty landlocked mountain ranges such as the Himalayas. Much later, after these ranges have been largely leveled by erosion, it is possible that the original contact, or suture, may be exposed.

The balance between creation and destruction on a global scale is demonstrated by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean by seafloor spreading over the past 200 million years, compensated by the contraction of the Pacific Ocean, and the consumption of an entire ocean between India and Asia (the Tethys Sea). The northward migration of India led to collision with Asia some 40 million years ago. Since that time India has advanced a further 2,000 km (1,250 miles) beneath Asia, pushing up the Himalayas and forming the Plateau of Tibet. Pinned against stable Siberia, China and Indochina were pushed sideways, resulting in strong seismic activity thousands of kilometres from the site of the continental collision.

Transform faults

Along the third type of plate boundary, two plates move laterally and pass each other along giant fractures in Earth’s crust. Transform faults are so named because they are linked to other types of plate boundaries. The majority of transform faults link the offset segments of oceanic ridges. However, transform faults also occur between plate margins with continental crust—for example, the San Andreas Fault in California and the North Anatolian fault system in Turkey. These boundaries are conservative because plate interaction occurs without creating or destroying crust. Because the only motion along these faults is the sliding of plates past each other, the horizontal direction along the fault surface must parallel the direction of plate motion. The fault surfaces are rarely smooth, and pressure may build up when the plates on either side temporarily lock. This buildup of stress may be suddenly released in the form of an earthquake.

Section of the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain, western California.

U.S. Geological Survey

Many transform faults in the Atlantic Ocean are the continuation of major faults in adjacent continents, which suggests that the orientation of these faults might be inherited from preexisting weaknesses in continental crust during the earliest stages of the development of oceanic crust. On the other hand, transform faults may themselves be reactivated, and recent geodynamic models suggest that they are favourable environments for the initiation of subduction zones.

Hotspots

Although most of Earth’s volcanic activity is concentrated along or adjacent to plate boundaries, there are some important exceptions in which this activity occurs within plates. Linear chains of islands, thousands of kilometres in length, that occur far from plate boundaries are the most notable examples. These island chains record a typical sequence of decreasing elevation along the chain, from volcanic island to fringing reef to atoll and finally to submerged seamount. An active volcano usually exists at one end of an island chain, with progressively older extinct volcanoes occurring along the rest of the chain. Canadian geophysicist J. Tuzo Wilson and American geophysicist W. Jason Morgan explained such topographic features as the result of hotspots.

The principal tectonic plates that make up Earth’s lithosphere. Also located are several dozen hot …

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The world’s earthquake zones occur in red bands and largely coincide with the boundaries of Earth’s …

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The number of these hotspots is uncertain (estimates range from 20 to 120), but most occur within a plate rather than at a plate boundary. Hotspots are thought to be the surface expression of giant plumes of heat, termed mantle plumes, that ascend from deep within the mantle, possibly from the core-mantle boundary, some 2,900 km (1,800 miles) below the surface. These plumes are thought to be stationary relative to the lithospheric plates that move over them. A volcano builds upon the surface of a plate directly above the plume. As the plate moves on, however, the volcano is separated from its underlying magma source and becomes extinct. Extinct volcanoes are eroded as they cool and subside to form fringing reefs and atolls, and eventually they sink below the surface of the sea to form a seamount. At the same time, a new active volcano forms directly above the mantle plume.

Diagram depicting the process of atoll formation. Atolls are formed from the remnant parts of …

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The best example of this process is preserved in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. The plume is presently situated beneath Hawaii, and a linear chain of islands, atolls, and seamounts extends 3,500 km (2,200 miles) northwest to Midway and a further 2,500 km (1,500 miles) north-northwest to the Aleutian Trench. The age at which volcanism became extinct along this chain gets progressively older with increasing distance from Hawaii—critical evidence that supports this theory. Hotspot volcanism is not restricted to the ocean basins; it also occurs within continents, as in the case of Yellowstone National Park in western North America.

Measurements suggest that hotspots may move relative to one another, a situation not predicted by the classical model, which describes the movement of lithospheric plates over stationary mantle plumes. This has led to challenges to this classic model. Furthermore, the relationship between hotspots and plumes is hotly debated. Proponents of the classical model maintain that these discrepancies are due to the effects of mantle circulation as the plumes ascend, a process called the mantle wind. Data from alternative models suggest that many plumes are not deep-rooted. Instead, they provide evidence that many mantle plumes occur as linear chains that inject magma into fractures, result from relatively shallow processes such as the localized presence of water-rich mantle, stem from the insulating properties of continental crust (which leads to the buildup of trapped mantle heat and decompression of the crust), or are due to instabilities in the interface between continental and oceanic crust. In addition, some geologists note that many geologic processes that others attribute to the behaviour of mantle plumes may be explained by other forces.

Plate motion

Euler’s contributions

In the 18th century, Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler showed that the movement of a rigid body across the surface of a sphere can be described as a rotation (or turning) around an axis that goes through the centre of the sphere, known as the axis of rotation. The location of this axis bears no relationship to Earth’s spin axis. The point of emergence of the axis through the surface of the sphere is known as the pole of rotation. This theorem of spherical geometry provides an elegant way to define the motion of the lithospheric plates across Earth’s surface. Therefore, the relative motion of two rigid plates may be described as rotations around a common axis, known as the axis of spreading. Application of the theorem requires that the plates not be internally deformed—a requirement not absolutely adhered to but one that appears to be a reasonable approximation of what actually happens. Application of this theorem permits the mathematical reconstruction of past plate configurations.

Theoretical depiction of the movement of tectonic plates across Earth’s surface. Movement on a …

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Because all plates form a closed system, all movements can be defined by dealing with them two at a time. The joint pole of rotation of two plates can be determined from their transform boundaries, which are by definition parallel to the direction of motion. Thus, the plates move along transform faults, whose trace defines circles of latitude perpendicular to the axis of spreading, and so form small circles around the pole of rotation. A geometric necessity of this theorem—that lines perpendicular to the transform faults converge on the pole of rotation—is confirmed by measurements. According to this theorem, the rate of plate motion should be slowest near the pole of rotation and increase progressively to a maximum rate along fractures with a 90° angle to it. This relationship is also confirmed by accurate measurements of seafloor-spreading rates.

Leonhard Euler, c. 1740s.

Kean Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Past plate movements

Plate tectonics involves the movements of Earth’s lithospheric plates relative to one another over the planet’s weak asthenosphere. This activity changes the positions of all plates with respect to Earth’s spin axis and the Equator. To determine the true geographic positions of the plates in the past, investigators have to define their motions, not only relative to each other but also relative to this independent frame of reference. Hotspots, as classically interpreted, provide an example of such a reference frame, assuming they are the sources of plumes that originate within the deep mantle and have relatively fixed positions over time. If this assumption is valid, the motion of the lithosphere above these plumes can be deduced. The hotspot island chains serve this purpose, their trends providing the direction of motion of a plate. The speed of the plate can be inferred from the increase in age of the volcanoes along the chain relative to the distance between the islands.

Earth scientists are able to accurately reconstruct the positions and movements of plates for the past 150 million to 200 million years because they have the oceanic crust record to provide them with plate speeds and direction of movement. However, since older oceanic crust is continuously consumed to make room for new crust, this kind of evidence is not available for earlier intervals of geologic time, making it necessary for investigators to turn to other, less-precise techniques. (See belowPaleomagnetism, polar wandering, and continental drift.)

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The theory, or idea, of plate tectonics says that Earth’s outer layer is made up of large, moving pieces called plates. All of Earth’s land and water sit on these plates. The plates are made of solid rock. Under the plates is a weaker layer of partially melted rock. The plates are constantly moving over this weaker layer.

The modern theory of the motions of Earth’s outer layers is called plate tectonics. It provides a framework for understanding many of Earth’s features, such as mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes, as well as the distribution of fossils and the ages of rocks. It also helps scientists reconstruct ancient climates and continental configurations.

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